Sick
by 123OJ123
Summary: My first fanfiction story about my favourite CSI character, Greg.
1. Chapter 1

**My first story here on fanfiction! Hopefully you enjoy it :)**

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"Hey Doc, do you have a second?"

Doc Robbins turned around and nodded. "Of course Greg, come on in."

Greg Sanders smiled slightly as he came into the morgue. He'd checked that no one was with Doc before speaking. "I need to ask you something."

"Okay, about your victim?" Doc asked, closing up a body on his table.

"Er, no. This is going to sound pathetic, but I've had this cough for weeks, probably a month now, and everybody has picked me up on it. It's probably nothing, but I sometimes have chest pains if it carries on for a while and my doctor just dismissed it for the flu. And, I was gonna leave it but earlier I had a coughing fit and blood came up. Not just a little bit either." Greg explained to him.

Doc frowned in concern and waved him closer. "Come and sit down here, let me take a look."

Greg did as instructed and sat down on the chair at doc's desk. He watched as doc got some things and then came over to him again. He opened his mouth and waited as doc looked down his throat. "Well, from what I can see, there doesn't seem to be much wrong."

Greg nodded but ended up coughing. A lot. He coughed and coughed and by the time he had done, his hand was bright red. "See, this isn't normal is it?" He said to Doc as he showed him his hand. Doc looked at it with a bit of worry and shook his head. "You need to go back to your doctor, tell them about this and they should run some tests, possibly give you a scan."

"Kay. Thanks Doc. Can you not tell the others? They're already on my case." Greg asked him with a sideways smile, washing his hands.

Doc smiled. "I won't say a word."

"Alright, thanks Doc."

**Three hours later**

_"Greg, Greg, can you hear me? Greg?"_

_"Can you open your eyes for me?"_

_"That's it, come on, open your eyes. Thatta boy, Greggo. Has someone called the medics?"_

_"Yeah, they're on their way."_

Greg's eyes flickered open and he was surprised to find himself on the floor, the rest of the team staring down at him.

He had been walking through the lab, on his way to get some coffee, feeling fatigue wash over him after being awake and working a double shift. However, he had to stop as he began to feel funny. He felt nauseous and could feel himself fighting it back but it was no good. He vomited right there in the hallway. He put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath, but ended up coughing again, much like many other previous times.

Russell came out of his office, hearing someone retching in the hall and found Greg puking again, but this time, with blood. He went over to his young team member who was swaying heavily. "Alright, alright, let's sit you down bud."

He was about to guide him into a nearby room, but didn't have time before Greg collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Russell immediately bent down next to him and shouted, "Some one call a medic! NOW!"

Henry, the lab tech, came running out of his lab and quickly joined Russell next to Greg. "Oh my God, is he ok? Did he puke that up?" He asked referring to the blood.

Russell nodded. "Yeah, he did. His head's clammy and he's burning up too. Something's wrong." He commented shaking his head.

Nick and Catherine rounded the corner, bringing back bags of evidence from their scene and as soon as they saw the three people on the floor, they both put their bags on the floor and went over. "What happened?"

"He just collapsed. I came out of my office to find him being sick and just as we were about to go and sit down he dropped." Russell told them. Catherine looked worried as hell and grabbed Greg's arm.

"We need to put him in the recovery position, just in case he's sick again."

They all turned Greg on his side and Nick started to talk to him.

"Greg, Greg, can you hear me? Greg?" He said, trying to coax him awake. "Can you open your eyes for me?"

"That's it, come on, open your eyes. Thatta boy, Greggo. Has someone called the medics?" Nick then asked Russell.

Henry nodded. "Yeah, they're on their way."

Nick nodded back and rubbed Greg's side. "Hey man, medics are on their way alright?" He told Greg as he looked up at him confused.

"Do you feel okay, Greg? Do you think you might be sick again?" Catherine asked him.

Greg shook his head on his arm and pushed himself up.

"Woah, woah, woah, just lie still until the medics get here." Russell told him, trying to gently push him back down, but Greg pushed himself up fully anyway.

Now sat up, Greg shuffled slightly on the floor so that he could lean on the wall. He began coughing again and leaned forward, so Catherine moved behind him and began rubbing his back comfortingly.

Just then, the medics arrived, with the receptionist bringing them, showing them where to go. "Mr Sanders, my name's Rob and this is Hanna. Are you alright, Sir?"

Greg nodded, still coughing. "Just put this on." Hanna, the medic told him, placing an oxygen mask around the back of his head. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-six." He told her as he braked in his coughing.

"Okay. The woman at the front desk told us you'd passed out, is that right?"

He nodded again as his coughing died down. "Okay, how long for?"

Greg shook his head and looked to the others briefly. "Not long."

"It was about three minutes." Russell told them.

Hanna nodded and then looked back to Greg. "Rob..."

The male medic looked to her, turning around from the bag where he was trying to find something. He looked to his patient and saw red on the mask over his mouth. "Mr Sanders, how long have you been coughing like this?"

"I've had it... probably a month." Greg told him, coughing in between.

"And how long has blood been coming out?"

"Today... er, yesterday." Greg told him.

The medic nodded. "Alright, have you been sick before this time? Recently?"

Greg shook his head and began to feel nauseous again. He quickly whipped the oxygen mask off his face and leant to the side, as he emptied his stomach again on the floor. Nick patted him on the back with a frown as the medics quickly gave him a bowl. "There's quite a lot of blood in there. We're going to take you to the hospital now, okay?"

Greg didn't even answer them, couldn't answer them, as he once again began coughing. Coughing blood.

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**Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please let me know what you thought of this :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, thank you so much for my first set of reviews everybody, really nice! Hope you all enjoy the second chapter :)**

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"Okay, Mr Sanders I'm doctor Ryan. I'm just going to have a look at your throat to see if we can see where this blood is coming from."

Greg was lying in a hospital bed, wearing one of the hospital provided gowns and had been waiting about ten minutes for someone to come and take a look at him. As soon as the medics had taken him in, he was assigned a room and left to change on his own. He'd stopped coughing and to be quite frank, he felt like walking out. He obviously wasn't an emergency and the hospital obviously didn't think so either since he'd just been left on his own for almost a quarter of an hour. So why was he there? He thought to himself.

"Just open your mouth for me." Doctor Ryan told him. He opened his mouth as the doctor shone a torch into it. He clicked it off and stood back. "Well I can't see anything wrong so far. You say this is the first time you've sick up blood?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah, it was just a few hours ago and I felt fine before then and I feel fine now."

Doctor Ryan frowned confused. "Any pain anywhere?"

Greg shook his head. "Not really, my chest hurts a little when I cough a lot but that's it."

"Okay, well I'll see when I can get an x-ray for you, just to make sure everything is alright." The doctor told him.

"There's no need for that. Really. Someone else will be needing your assistance more than me so you should go and get to them." Greg told him.

Doctor Ryan smiled. "Mr Sanders, all of my patients get what they deserve and I think it's advisable we do an x-ray."

Greg shook his head though. "Don't bother okay. I'm fine, there's no need for it."

"The only way I won't give you one is if you refuse to have one." Doctor Ryan told him.

Greg shrugged slightly. "Then I refuse. Thanks for your time but I'm done."

Doctor Ryan shook his head. "Alright then. Well this could possibly be a chest infection; so I'm going to prescribe you some antibiotics and hopefully they'll clear this up for you." He told him. Greg raised an eyebrow in response.

"Right, I see no reason why you have to stay here; you can change and go home."

"Just make sure you sign the papers." Doctor Ryan told him before leaving the room.

"You're kidding me?" Nick asked amazed. "They let you out saying it was a _chest infection_?"

Nick had followed the medics to the hospital and was there when Greg came out and told him he would drive him home, surprised he was out so soon.

Greg nodded with raised eyebrows. "Yeah, the doctor didn't seem worried at all. That's gotta be a good thing right?"

"Well yeah," Nick said, "But you were on the floor, man. They think that's because of a chest infection? I don't buy it."

Greg shrugged. "It's nothing to worry about, I feel fine."

Nick glanced over to his friend and sighed inside. He never seemed to think of himself. "Well, maybe it's good that you're having the night off. Russell said you can have the next few days off too."

"I don't need any more time off. I'll just have tonight and come back as usual tomorrow." Greg told him.

"Really? You don't want a bit longer, he won't mind." Nick told him.

But Greg shook his head. "Seriously, I'm fine."

**Two weeks later**

Greg was back at work as usual and had been fine. He was back out in the field and things at the lab were all running smoothly. However, his cough still had not gone and a small amount of blood would still come out every now and then. But there was no way he was going to tell the others; they hadn't let him out their sight for a week after his last episode in the lab. And he really didn't see any need to bother them.

He and Nick had just been sent out to a scene of which they had just arrived. They grabbed their kits out the back of the Denali and climbed up an incline just on the outskirts of the desert to get to the scene. Nick jogged to the top and Greg followed closely, but slowed near the top, breathing heavily. When he was at the top, Nick turned to him with a smile. "What?" Greg asked him.

"You're tired after that? I think you need to work out more." He joked and patted his hand heavily on his back.

Greg laughed but soon stopped as he tried to catch his breath. He followed Nick again to the little house where police were waiting for them. "Body in here?" Nick asked when they reached them.

One of the police nodded and lifted the tape for them as they ducked under. When they got inside, Nick started documenting the body, only photographing it since the coroner was yet to arrive, but had to stop when all he could hear was Greg wheeze, still trying to catch his breath.

"Jeez man, you need those medics that you had a few weeks ago?" Nick joked again and Greg laughed. Although he was getting annoyed at how the team would always bring up what had happened in the lab, even though it had happened weeks previous.

A few minutes later and Greg was breathing normally again and was concentrating on his work. The house was old, and it looked like the old lady who had died lived in just the main room. Her bedroom looked untouched except for a jewellery box which had been emptied and her spare room was just as dusty.

Greg pulled open an old wardrobe door, where the dust had been disturbed and when it opened, dust fell from inside straight onto Greg. He flapped it away with his hands but soon began coughing again. He tried to keep it quiet but the dust really got him going. He made his way out the house and he saw Nick stand up as he went by him. When he got outside the officers asked if he was alright and he nodded to them, unable to speak.

He coughed and coughed and Nick stood by him, watching as Greg choked and gasped to get some air. It took a minute for his coughing to subside and when it did, Greg saw his glove covered in speckled red. He quickly pulled it off in hopes that Nick would not see and wrapped it around itself.

"Is that blood?" Nick asked and he turned his head slightly to face him.

"No."

Nick stared at him and grabbed the glove out of his hand. He unravelled it and then looked back up to Greg. "What the hell? Has this not cleared up yet?"

Greg closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Nick, it's nothing to worry about. I've still got some antibiotics to use; they've probably not started working yet." He tried to tell him.

"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid Greg. You need to go back to the hospital." He told him sternly.

"Look, if I thought it was something to worry about don't you think I would have gone to see about it already by myself?" Greg asked him.

"No I don't, because you're obviously not seeing what I am. There's blood on here Greg." Nick told him, holding the glove out towards him. "Please go and see a doctor about this."

Greg threw his hands up. "Fine. But you have to leave me alone."

"Deal."

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**Reviews are always welcome :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you everybody for the reviews again, they are lovely :)**

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"Hi, my name's Greg Sanders. I'd like to make another appointment. I came in a few weeks ago." Greg said on the phone as he rang the doctor's office.

"Yeah, I can make that. Okay, thank you very much."

The lady at the office had managed to squeeze him in early that morning since someone had cancelled their appointment.

He quickly grabbed his keys and headed out.

"What can I do for you?"

Greg smiled. "I came in a few weeks ago about this cough I'd had for quite a while and it's still not gone. I've had it close to two months now. And I've also been coughing up blood for a good while too."

The doctor frowned. "Did you get an x-ray in your last appointment?"

Greg shook his head. "No, I went to the hospital a little while back and they offered me one but I didn't take it."

"Well I can book you one right now for next week. What day can you do?" The doctor asked him, clicking away on his computer.

"Any day is good. I'll be able to work around it."

The doctor nodded. "Okay, I have a space on Wednesday if that's good?"

Greg smiled. "Yeah, that's fine. Thank you."

**Friday the following week**

"Mr Sanders come and take a seat." The doctor told him, shutting the door behind him.

"I have your x-ray results here." He held the film up and showed it to Greg. "I'm afraid this mass should not be here."

Greg flicked his eyes to the doctor, "What does it mean? What is that?" He asked, nodding his head to the x-ray.

"You'll need more tests for us to be sure but it looks like cancer." The doctor told him grimly.

Greg's mouth involuntarily dropped open slightly. "Cancer? What, can you, can you treat it? Is it treatable?"

The doctor took the x-ray down and clasped his hands together.

"Lung cancer is a very hard thing to find early. There are very subtle symptoms and it's rare that we catch it soon enough to say that we're 100% confident that they will pull through. However, there are advanced treatments out there that can give you the best shot of getting the cancer gone. I've already referred you to the cancer facility at the hospital and you can expect treatment straight away."

Greg nodded slowly and leant back in his chair. "I know this is a lot to take, but there are thousands of people who overcome this."

"Yeah. What, where... I don't... what do I do now?" Greg asked, finally managing to get his words out.

"Well the first step is going to the specialists. They can tell you everything you need to know. They'll explain all the treatments available, what's the best one for you. They will be able to tell you everything you want to know."

Greg nodded. What was he going to do?

Greg had driven straight home after the doctors, unable to do anything else. He had work in a few hours and he was debating calling in sick. He could not wrap his head around what he had just been told. He, Greg Sanders, had cancer. Lung cancer at that. He'd never smoked... well; he'd had a go when he was at college but who hadn't?

He had no idea how he was going to tell everyone about this. What would they do? How would they react? He found that he was scared to tell anyone. He was scared of what might happen if he said anything to them. So he decided, he wasn't going to tell anyone.

Greg went into work that night and luckily no body seemed to notice that he was unusually quiet. Morgan had asked him if he was okay, and he'd just nodded and given her his usual smile and that seemed enough to please her.

After he'd finished work, he went to the hospital. Once there, he met up with a doctor, had some tests ran and had a long discussion about what they were going to do. He was then told to go back in a few days for his results.

When he went back, his doctor confirmed that it was cancer. Not that Greg had tried to convince himself that it wasn't. He knew what it was as soon as the word cancer came out his first doctor's mouth.

Greg was told that he had stage 2 lung cancer. If he was honest, it meant nothing to Greg. He didn't have the foggiest about anything to do with cancer, never having to face it in his life before. But now he did. He was told that their first option to treat it would be surgery, to try and get as much of the mass as they could. However, the doctor told him that the position of the cancer was smack bang in the middle of his lung, so the chances of getting it all were slim. They would give him radiotherapy afterwards.

After finishing at the hospital, the next step was at work.

"Hey boss. Do you have a minute?" Greg asked as he peeped his head around the door to Russell's office.

"Sure Greg, come on in."

Greg smiled briefly and sat down in front of his boss' desk. "What can I do for you?" Russell asked him.

"I was wondering if it would be possible for me to have some time off? As soon as you can give it to me." Greg asked him cautiously.

Russell nodded. "Yeah, you can have it right now if you want it. What's it for?"

Greg swallowed deeply. "Medical leave." He told him simply.

Russell looked up to him and nodded. "You mind me asking why you need to go on medical leave?"

"Er, it's just something I need to sort out. Nothing serious." Greg assured him with a small smile.

Russell looked weary at him but eventually nodded. "How long do you need?"

Greg sighed quietly. "How long can you give me?"

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**Hope you enjoyed it everybody :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reviews again. Really nice :)**

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Russell had told Greg that he could have as long as he wanted off. He still didn't know why Greg needed the time off from work, but he respected his colleague's privacy and didn't pry. The rest of the team had pestered him about Greg's absence and Russell's answer to them was that he was having some time off.

He had been admitted into the hospital yesterday and they were preparing him for surgery today. He'd not told anyone about the cancer and as days went by, he was glad he was off work. He was becoming out of breath easy, not that it was a massive difference from a week ago, but he had noticed.

He was in a hospital bed, not really doing anything when his door opened. He looked up, expecting to see his nurse or doctor, and was shocked when Russell stepped inside. He pushed himself up in the bed and spoke first, "What are you doing here?" He asked, a bit more accusation in his voice than he intended there to be.

Russell shut the door and walked over to him. "I came to talk to you. About why you are here, in the hospital."

Greg looked down. "How did you know I was here?" He asked Russell quietly.

He pulled a chair up next to Greg. "I... did a little investigating."

"One thing I didn't find out was why you are here. So please, tell me."

Greg looked up to his boss. "Lung cancer. I'm having surgery tomorrow." He told him monotone.

Russell shook his head. "I'm sorry bud. You should have told me as soon as you found out. You shouldn't go through this alone."

"They're going to cut it out tomorrow, after that I should be as good as new, there is no need to worry." Greg told him, trying to be reassuring.

"You know this is a bigger deal than that. This is going to change a lot of things for a while. Don't worry about work, I'll make sure you can come back anytime you're ready and I will let Ecklie know what is going on." Russell told him.

"No, please don't tell anyone else about this." Greg interrupted him.

Russell frowned at him. "Why not Greg? They will want to know."

"Just... don't. They don't need to know."

"Ecklie will want an explanation for this, you know that." Russell argued.

"Then tell him, but nobody else. Ok?" Greg asked him.

Reluctantly, Russell nodded. "Did they find it early?" He asked him.

Greg shrugged. "Quite early. It's stage two. I think they said there were four all together, so it's not that bad. I'll be alright you know, I don't want you to worry about me."

Russell smiled slightly. "I know you will, but that's never going to stop me worrying about you, about this."

Greg looked away from him. "Why did you not tell _me _Greg?"

"I don't know. I don't want everyone to be looking at me different because of this. I don't want to end up back in the lab. There are plenty of reasons." Greg told him.

"I would not have looked at you different. I would still see you as the same Greg I have always know. Nothing will change how I see you." Russell told him.

"You are already looking at me different, treating me different too, and you only found out five minutes ago."

"I'm just trying to let you know that I am here for you. I'll always be here, no matter what the problem is." Russell told him.

Greg turned to him and smiled slightly. "Well thanks, but I don't want this to be a massive sob story or anything like that."

"Don't worry; I'll make sure not to give you any special treatment when you are back at work." Russell said to him.

Greg smiled. "You know, you could just get me out of fishing in any dumpsters for a while."

Russell had been to see him early the next day, before he went into surgery. He was a little nervous but the doctor had done his best to convince his patient he would be fine.

He went in, thinking that when he came out all of his worries would be gone, but he was wrong.

He groggily woke up not long after the surgery, when the anaesthesia wore off. He was in a little bit of pain but other than that, he was ok. He was alone for about ten minutes before his doctor came in to check on him.

"I did not know you were awake Mr Sanders. How are you feeling?"

Greg swallowed and nodded. "I'm alright. Is it gone?" He asked as quickly as possible.

His doctor sighed and pulled a chair up next to Greg's bed. "Because of the position of the cancer, we were unable to get as much as we would have hoped, we've done a lobectomy, which has removed a substantial part of your lung. You're going to need to have a lot of radiotherapy now to try and get the rest of it, and if that's successful then chemotherapy is our next step to make sure it doesn't come back."

Greg opened his mouth in shock. "You took some of my lung out? What? Can I live without it?" He asked a little bit panicked.

"Yes, you should have no problems. Many people live with just one lung; it won't affect you as much as you might think."

Greg nodded at him and sighed. "So do I have to stay here now or what happens?"

"You can go home soon, probably in a week or so, as long as you have someone who can look after you for a few days." His doctor told him.

"Can't I leave on my own?" Greg asked him.

But his doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid you'll need someone with you."

Greg sighed and thought. He would ring Russell, but he would feel weird calling his boss to come and pick him up, that was a friend's job. So he guessed there was only one person he could really call.

**The next day**

"Hey, buddy. How are you doing?" Russell asked with a smile as he entered Greg's hospital room. He was hooked up to a drip and there was a drain tube coming from under the sheet covering him.

Greg looked up to him and smiled. "I'm alright. They took out a piece of my lung; they couldn't get all the cancer though so I need some more treatment." He explained.

Russell nodded. "Alright, so what is your next step? Another surgery?"

Greg shook his head, "No, it's radiotherapy. I'm sorry; I'm going to need some more time off work."

"Don't worry about that." Russell told him, "That's the last thing you need to worry about, okay?"

Greg nodded slowly and offered Russell a small smile when he saw him looking at the tube coming from under the sheet. "It goes into the hole in my side, drains the wound."

Russell looked up and shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare at it. It's just... I'm sorry that you're in here."

Greg smiled. "It's not your fault."

"And thanks for coming to see me by the way, you did not have to." He added to break the silence.

"Yes I did. Is there any chance you'll let me tell the others about this so that they can come and see you too?" Russell asked with a raised eyebrow.

But Greg shook his head. "No, don't tell anyone."

"Greg-" Russell started but got interrupted.

"Wait, I need you to tell Nick."

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**Hope you enjoyed it :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for the reviews every one :)**

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**Six days later**

"Hey."

"Hey, thanks for coming." Greg said as Nick came into his room. He was sat on the edge of his bed, waiting to go home.

Nick smiled and walked over to him. "No problem, I had been wondering where you were the past week or two. Everyone has."

Greg looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry. I know I should have told you sooner, that's why I told Russell to tell you."

"So it wasn't just for the ride home today?" Nick asked, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Greg smiled, "No, it wasn't just for the ride."

Nick laughed, "Whatever, let me take you home."

"Thought you said you were taking me home?" Greg asked Nick confused as he recognised the house they'd pulled up at as Nick's.

Nick put the car in park and looked over to Greg. "I have." He said and got out his car. He walked around to Greg's side and opened the door and held out a hand.

Greg took his offer and grabbed onto Nick as he got out the car. "You know I'll be fine on my own, just take me to my place."

"Nope, you're staying with me until you are 100% again." Nick told him.

Greg could not help but smile as he walked slowly into Nick's house. When he got inside, he found himself very out of breath, more than he thought he would be. "Sit down, man." Nick told him.

He did as he was told and gingerly sat on the couch.

Nick rallied around him for the rest of the day, only letting him stand up to move his legs a little bit which the doctor had told him to do. They were sat watching TV when Greg looked to him sharply, "Pass me that cushion."

Nick looked at him with confusion but passed it to him. Greg grabbed it quickly and held it to his side, just before he shouted out loud as he sneezed. "Ow."

He passed the cushion back to Nick who looked at him in confusion. "It's supposed to make it less painful." He explained. "Don't ask me how; I don't know how it's meant to help."

Nick nodded in understanding. "Oh, that makes more sense now." He told his friend with a smile. "You need me to fetch you some painkillers?"

Greg shook his head at him. "No thanks, I'll be alright for a while I think."

"Alright. Don't be afraid to ask me for something though, okay?" Nick told him.

Greg smiled. "I won't."

**The next day**

"Hey, I have to go to work; will you be alright on your own?" Nick asked as he walked into his living room, putting a belt on his pants.

Greg looked up to him and smiled. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Nick smiled back. "Alright, I'll call at the store on my way home and grab us some dinner."

Greg nodded. "Ok, you know I can walk to the shop if you want, it's not that far..." His voice trailed off as Nick stared at him.

"Next joke, Greg. You need to rest. Make sure you're ready for when your radiotherapy starts." Nick said to him. "Don't make me tie you to the chair." He joked.

Greg laughed at him. "Whatever you say, 'Mom'."

**One week later**

"Mr Sanders, how's the pain?" His doctor asked as he walked into the room Greg was sat in, next to Nick who had bought him to the hospital.

Greg nodded. "It's not bad; I'm still taking the meds though."

His doctor nodded. "Ok, that is to be expected you can have that pain for a little while yet. Are you ready for your first radiotherapy treatment?"

Greg nodded. "Good. Now it won't take long. You just need to lie still for about five minutes. I'm afraid nobody is allowed in the room with you, however, there is an intercom system so that you can speak to a nurse or somebody whenever you wish to."

"Will I feel anything?" Greg asked a bit apprehensively.

"No, it's absolutely painless, don't worry about it." The doctor told him with a smile.

Greg smiled slightly. "Okay." He stood up to follow his doctor and gave a small wave to Nick.

"I'll wait right here. What do you want for dinner? I can call and order a Chinese?" Nick asked him.

"Yeah, Chinese sounds good. I'll be back soon."

**Back at Nick's house**

They'd arrived back at Nick's house around an hour ago and they were both sat on the sofa watching a football game when Nick's doorbell rang.

Nick frowned as he stood to answer it. He smiled when he saw Sara standing in front of him. "Hey Sara, come on in."

She thanked him and her eyebrows rose in surprise when she saw Greg sat smiling at her. "Hey Greg, I didn't know you were here."

He smiled at her and nodded at the T.V. "I came to watch the game." He lied to her and could see Nick behind Sara giving him a disapproving look.

"Oh, well I just came to drop this off. Our case is closed; Brass managed to get a confession out of him, so here's the report for you to write." Sara said to Nick with a sarcastic smile as she handed it over, which he took with mock excitement.

"Thanks Sara, I've been waiting for this all night."

She laughed and turned back to Greg, walking over to him and sitting down. "Where have you been Greg? None of us have seen you in weeks."

He shuffled nervously in his seat and shrugged. "I had some family problems... it's nothing."

"Greg..." Nick said to him and Greg shook his head slightly.

Sara frowned and turned to Nick and then back to Greg, "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Greg quickly replied.

"Yes there is. Greg you tell her or I will. She deserves to know." Nick told him.

After he didn't say anything for a moment, Nick spoke up. "He has cancer."

Sara's mouth dropped open and she turned to Greg who refused to look at her. "Greg?" She questioned him.

He looked to her and sighed. "Lung cancer. I'm already having some treatment."

She shook her head at him. "How long have you known? We have all been sat at work wondering where you are and you've been having treatment for lung cancer? Do you realize how worried we have all been, thinking about you?"

Greg swallowed. "I didn't want you to know."

"Why the hell not, Greg? If I had cancer wouldn't you want to know about it?" Sara asked him accusing.

Nick came over and sat down. "Sara, don't blame him for not telling us. It is his business."

"Not telling 'us'? Don't say that Nick, because he clearly told you." Sara said to him.

"I got Russell to tell him, okay? The hospital would not let me leave without anybody so I had to have someone pick me up." Greg told her, stepping in for his friend.

Sara shook her head. "You should have told me. You should have told everyone about this."

Greg nodded his head. "I know. And I will, I just don't want to."

"Why not? You know that we would all be here for you." Sara told him, grabbing his hand.

He looked down to her hand in his and smiled. "This is why; I don't want you all to feel sorry for me or anything."

Sara smiled. "I guess I can understand that but I really do think you should tell everyone. They'll just want to know what's going on." She tried to persuade him.

He nodded to her. "I know, and I'll tell them. Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You promise that?" Sara asked him.

"I promise."

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**Please review if you have some time to :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for the two reviews I got, they seem to have dropped off a bit but never mind :) I will be posting another story soon so I hope you will be able to check it out. :)**

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"Greg! You're back!" Catherine exclaimed as he walked into the break room where she, Sara, Morgan, Finn and Nick sat.

He gave her a smile which didn't meet its usual Greg Sanders standard. "What's wrong?" Catherine asked, picking up on his down demeanour.

Greg swallowed nervously and looked over to Nick. "He needs to tell you something." Nick told her and everyone looked at him curiously, and then back to Greg.

"What is it?" Catherine asked him.

"It's... I, I have cancer." Greg told them and watched as their faces dropped.

"Oh no, Greg I am so sorry." Finn said as she stood up and went over to him. Greg gave her an appreciative smile as she gave him a gentle hug.

"What sort of cancer is it?" Somebody asked from behind him. He turned around to see Henry and Hodges stood there, presumably going to the break room for their morning briefing.

Greg cleared his throat and looked at everybody. "Lung cancer, I'm already having treatment for it. This is why I've been off for a while. I'm sorry I didn't tell you all sooner." He told them guiltily.

Morgan shook her head sadly and Nick put his hand on her arm comfortingly. "Are you going to be ok?" She asked him and he paused before answering.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine." He told them, not sounding overly confident or convincing in his words.

Russell popped up at the door, as well as Doc Robbins. "D.B.'s just informed me. I'm sorry Greg." Doc told him sincerly.

Greg smiled at him slightly and then the others. "I didn't mean to bring the mood down so much." He said to them all, bringing a small smile to each of their faces.

"How long have you known, Greg?" Catherine asked him.

He put his head down. "About a month."

When he put his head up, he saw Henry's mouth hung open and the others looking at him questioningly. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Catherine spoke again.

Greg shrugged uncomfortably, feeling everyone's eyes on him.

"You should have told us." Finn told him, "You didn't have to go through this alone for this long."

"She's right. We would have been there for you from the start." Morgan added.

"You should have told us." Sara spoke, almost as if they hadn't had a similar conversation just the day before.

"I'm sorry. I know I should." Greg replied.

It was quiet for a moment and the new lab tech, which Russell hired the week before Greg left, walked in. "Woah, who's dying?" He asked jokily seeing everyone's faces. They all glared at him and it looked like Sara was about to leap across the room at him. "Where have you been Sanders? It's nice of you to turn up." They said and elbowed him in the chest as he walked by.

Greg grabbed his side with a small gasp of pain and Catherine and Finn both went to him and made him sit on the sofa. Sara stormed over to the new guy and started shouting in his face. "What the hell was that for?!"

He put his hands up with a smirk, "Calm down Sidle, I didn't do it that hard."

She shoved him with one hand and Nick went over to grab her. "You might not have done it hard but he's already sick without you making him even worse!"

The whole room looked to her and it seemed as if the whole lab froze. Greg stared at her before standing up and heading to the door. "Greg, sit down. Have a minute." Catherine told him as she stood to follow him. He didn't answer her and brushed through the middle of Doc and Russell who were both still stood at the door.

Nick sighed and quietly left the room after Greg.

After walking around the lab and having no look finding Greg, Nick went outside and saw him sat on a bench facing away from him. Nick walked over to him slowly and sat next to him.

"You alright?" He asked his friend after he'd been sat for a minute and Greg didn't even acknowledge that he was there.

Greg turned his head to face Nick and then looked down, shaking his head. "This is why I didn't want anybody to know. I have Catherine and Finn already mothering round me whenever somebody touches me, Sara's going to beat everyone up who even looks at me funny." He told him and looked up surprised when Nick laughed at him.

"Do you realise how stupid you sound? You just told them all you have cancer. Don't you understand how serious that is? They have every right to be a little overprotective." Nick told him.

Greg looked away from him and shook his head. "Whatever, you don't understand."

Russell was in his office, finishing up his paperwork before he went home, when someone knocked on his door. "Come in."

He looked up and smiled when he saw Greg. "Hey, come sit down. It is good to see you."

Greg smiled and sat down. It had been just over two weeks since he had been in the lab to tell everyone about his cancer and he had not been back since. "How are you doing?" Russell asked him, pleased to see his young team member again.

"Good, I'm doing a lot better." Greg told him with a small smile. "I'm here to ask you about work. I talked to my doctor yesterday about it and he said that I'm ok to come back, just as long as I don't do any heavy lifting or anything like that."

Russell smiled even more. "That's great. Well you can start back as soon as you wish. We've missed you."

Greg smiled. "Thanks. You need me in tomorrow?" He asked.

Russell nodded. "Tomorrow sounds great."

"Greg! It is so great to see you!" Finn said as she saw him pouring himself and Nick a cup of coffee in the break room. He turned and gave her a hug as she came over. Before he had chance to talk to her though, the others came in.

"Greg!" Morgan said happily, "Are you back at work?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah, first day back." He told her smiling.

"It's good to have you back Greg." Catherine said as she and Sara came over to him.

"Thanks, it's good to be back." He replied.

Russell came in and smiled when he saw the happiness on his teams faces. "I am guessing you have all figured it out, but this is Greg's first day back. Now get all your catching up done before we leave, we have a busy day. Nick, Sara, you have a 419. Catherine, Morgan, a B and E for you two. And Greg, you are with me and Finn."

"Everyone got that? Now let's go."

Greg, Russell and Finn had been at their scene for a half hour when Greg noticed some bullet casings under two massive crates.

He tried to grab it through one of the gaps in the crates but he couldn't reach so he decided to lift them out of the way. As he did the first one, he stopped for a minute before moving onto the second, and just as he picked it up Russell shouted. "Greg!"

He dropped it back down and turned to see Russell storming towards him and Finn quickly following from the back of the barn they were in. "What's going on?" Finn asked when Russell stopped in front of Greg, whose face had fallen.

"You told me your doctor said no heavy lifting." Russell said to him.

"He did, but I can manage these, I did one-"

Russell held up his hand. "Greg, if I can't trust you then you are going to have to stay at home or at least at the lab."

"Russell this is stupid, they're not heavy, I can do it." Greg tried to argue.

"I'm giving you this as a warning, if I see you lifting anything again I'm suspending you." Russell told him.

"That is a little harsh don't you think?" Greg asked him with a small laugh.

"Don't try me, Greg." Russell told him before turning back around and going back over to where he had been.

Finn looked at Greg who had a slightly pissed look on his face. "Hey, don't let this get to you. You know he's just trying to look out for you."

He looked at her and nodded. "There's a shell down there. You're going to have to move this though before you can get it." He told her dejectedly.

"Alright, I'll get it. And hey, keep your chin up. It's your first day back." Finn reminded him, giving him one last smile.

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**Thanks for reading all of you, and hope you enjoyed it. :)**


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